The idea for these bars came from many different places. I always have bananas in my house. Only problem is that bananas and summer time are not great friends and more often than not I find myself freezing bananas going brown. (great tip, if you have a recipe with a certain amount of bananas, peel and mash them in a ziploc bag before freezing them so they are ready to go when you need them!
Secondly, I have also been experimenting with hemp hearts recently, when the Manitoba hemp heart growers were kind enough to send me samples of their product for a demonstration. Hemp hearts are high in protein and healthy fats, and have a subtle taste resembling a sunflower seed. For some delicious hemp recipes visit manitobaharvest.com…….or keep reading!!!
And so I set out to use everything lying around my kitchen to make a yummy snack with enough protein to fill you up! Now, my sister has recently had to cut out dairy and soy from her diet, and since she likes snacks too (she more or less finished the whole first pan of this recipe!) I had to bake with her in mind.
So, that leaves us with bars that are:
1. high in protein
2. Low in fat
3. sugar free
4. oil free
5. actually taste good
WELL CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
recipe for peanut butter banana oatmeal bars
3 cups rolled oats
3 bananas (frozen or you can use fresh ones going bad!)
1/3 cup hemp hearts
1 cup dried prunes
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup peanut butter
mix all ingredients together and press into an 8×10 pan.
Bake at 325 F for 20 minutes or until the bars are set. They may still feel slightly tacky or chewy to the touch.
The nice thing about these bars is you can feel free to add any flavours you want! Maybe some cocoa powder to compliment the peanut butter? Vanilla? or some extra sliced almonds or peanuts? Or just enjoy these delish bars as is!